This application claims priority from Swiss Patent Application No. 0367/01, filed Feb. 28, 2001.
The present invention concerns a timepiece including in particular a functional unit including magnetised masses, an electronic module including a support with conductive paths connected to at least one integrated circuit.
In particular, the object of the present Application concerns a timepiece wherein said functional unit is a microgenerator which is not shielded laterally.
Hereinafter in this Application, “non-magnetic” material means a material which is not ferromagnetic, which is not or only very slightly paramagnetic, and which may have a slight diamagnetism. Likewise, “in proximity to the microgenerator” means the entire peripheral region of the microgenerator in which the magnetic flux of the magnetised masses has a significant value.
The operating principle of such a watch movement is described in particular in Swiss Patent No. 597636 and European Patent No. 851322, the teaching of which is incorporated herein by reference. Swiss Patent No. 597636, for example, discloses a watch movement wherein a spring, via a set of gears, drives hands, on the one hand, and a generator generating an ac current, on the other hand. The generator powers an electronic circuit including in particular a stabilised quartz oscillator which allows the working of the generator, and thus the working of the hands, to be regulated. Such a watch consequently combines the advantages of a mechanical watch with the precision of a quartz watch.